Conflict

 Imagine that you are a member of the group, sitting silently and observing the conversation. You have a good working relationship with all of the people who are in the meeting, and you and the others have openly given each other feedback to help improve workplace performance. As you observe the meeting, you notice some things that took place and want to share that information with your colleagues so that they are aware.

Write an e-mail to your colleagues with  three specific observations, of the meeting and how their verbal and/or nonverbal communication might have been interpreted. Provide your colleagues with three strategies that might help them in future brainstorming meetings.

Conflict Script:

Rachel: I know—how about this? It’s a quality issue, right? And people love prizes, right? So, why don’t we offer them a prize if we don’t fix their unit right the first time?

Jane: A prize? They don’t want a prize! They want their system fixed!

Rachel: Okay, well then, why don’t we have a prize for the tech with the best customer stats?

Jane: Hell-o! It’s always a tech’s mistake! Sometimes the replacement unit’s bad. Remember?

Rachel: Okay, then, why don’t we have our prize for the best replacement unit vendor?

Jane: What’s with the prizes? This is going nowhere!

Steve: Jane, this is a brainstorming session. A free flow of ideas and all. Right, Kenneth?

Kenneth: [Pause, eyes on phone] Absolutely.

Damian: Like, uh, when I was in school, we would throw out all kinds of ideas, and the teacher would say, like, there’s no bad ideas.

Jane: That’s because she never heard these! Look, can we skip past the prizes?

Rachel: Fine, then, but I still think we need something for our…our customers’ patience.

Steve: Like, to reward them for their loyalty. While we’re getting things straightened out with unit suppliers.

Rachel: Absolutely. An incentive to stay with us.

Damian: Hey, I had a teacher once who would give out gift cards for school spirit.

Steve: Something like that could work, too.

Rachel: I like it. A customer-appreciation gift card.

Jane: [exasperated] And we’re back to the prizes!

Steve: Jane, do you have any unique ideas you’d like to offer?

Jane: Sure! Why don’t we give our best tech a date with Rachel, and they could talk about our fabulous prizes!

Damian: Come on, guys.

Jane: Just an idea!

Rachel: I was just trying to help.

Jane: And I was trying to keep us on track.

Steve: Kenneth, you want to step in here?

Kenneth: Absolutely.

Damian: [to himself] Wow. It’s just like school.